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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The following studies compare the standard of living amongst countries.

2011 Index of Economic Freedom

The Heritage Foundation (USA) and Wall Street Journal ranked countries on the ability of individuals to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please; and the ability of labor, capital and goods to move freely. For 183 countries, ten areas are ranked from 0 to 100, where 100 = maximum freedom. Following are the top 30:

The United Nations also publishes an annual Education Index, which measures the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting). The adult literacy rate gives an indication of the ability to read and write, while the GER gives an indication of the level of education from kindergarten to postgraduate education.

Every January, International Living magazine rates 194 countries in nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate. This involves a lot of number crunching from "official" sources, including government websites, the World Health Organization, The Economist, Freedom House, United Nations, etc. Following are the current rankings:

It is interesting to note that International Living scores all the above countries in the "Freedom" category at 100% - with the exception of the United States and Italy, which only scored 92% in the areas of political rights and civil liberties.

The following statistics are taken from the World Health Organisation Statistical Information Service (WHOSIS) and are the most recent figures available. Amounts are calculated in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) international $ exhange rates.

The UK Charities Aid Foundation published an "World Giving Index 2010" in September 2010 which ranks countries according to the proportion of the public who had, in the previous month, given money to charity, given time to those in need and helped a stranger. Their rankings are:

The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) rates 22 rich countries on how much they help poor countries build prosperity, good government, and security. Each rich country gets scores in seven policy areas, which are averaged for an overall score.